The Christmas Gift
by Ghost
Summary: Christmas in Lyra's world. Will she get what she wished for? Warning! This is highcalorie fluff on a stick! This is also my first HDM fic.


Christmas in Lyra's world. Will she get what she wished for? Warning! This is high-calorie fluff on a stick!

****

The Christmas Gift   
A His Dark Materials story in Christmas Time

The great hall of Jordan College was decorated with all the essential of a merry Christmas. Bows of holly and mistletoes, red ribbons and silver angels and even a large, fully decorated tree. Everyone seemed to have a great time. The Principal and the academics were toasting with glögg*, and the smell of warm wine, cinnamon and carnations filled the air.   
Lyra sat quit by herself and felt strangely numb, with Pantalaimon curled up in her lap. This was her first Christmas since her farewell to Will, and even though she had tried not to think about him for the last months all the talk of love on Earth and mistletoes had managed to pull all the painful memories out of that dark corner of her heart were she had hidden them. She and a host of other girls from St. Sophia had been invited to spend Christmas at Jordan, along with Dame Hannah and some of the schoolars. They were now all enjoying themselves, and only Lyra felt left out of the warm unity.   
One of the schoolars manned the organ and a choir quickly assembled. Their high, clear voices rang throughout the hall: 

__

"Ding-dong! Merrily on high, 

In heaven the bells are ringing: 

Ding-dong! Verily the sky

Is riving with angel singing. 

  
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis! 

E'en so here below, below, 

Let steeple bells be swungen, 

And "Io, io, io!" 

By priest and people sungen.   
  
Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!" 

Lyra found herself wondering what the point of it all was supposed to be. She knew that God was dead, she had been there to see him die (and even had an active part of it). She knew all about life after death, which wasn't that much of a life anyway. Her closest friends were miles away and now she was doomed to spend the rest of her life without the person she loved the most in the entire universe. 

__

"Pray you, dutifully prime

Your matin chime, ye ringers;

May you beautifully rime

Your evetime song, ye singers. 

Gloria, Hosanna in excelsis!"

"Cheer up, Lyra," said Tania O'Shea, one of the girls from St. Sophia. "You should not look so gloomy tonight, it's Christmas!" 

The very word "Christmas" felt hollow to her. Lyra fought off an urge to laugh bitterly. "I'm okay, Tania," she said.

"Thinking about that boy again?" The brown-haired girl gave her a sympathetic look. Lyra only nodded. Tania sat down next to her. Her daemon, Ylarahne**, a nightingale, sat down on her shoulder. "Look, I don't know who he is or where he is, but if he loves you as much as you claim, I am sure he wouldn't want you to go though Christmas in a sad mood."

"You are right," Lyra said and tried to cheer up. "I… I just came to think of him, that's all. I'm okay now." 

"Good," Tania said. Lyra was sure her friend didn't believe her, but she respected Lyra enough to leave it at that. She gave Lyra a friendly pat on the shoulder and returned to the celebrations. 

Lyra stood up to get something to drink. Perhaps some glögg would help her into a better mood. Pan jumped down to the floor and followed her, giving friendly nods to other daemons he passed. Just as Lyra's was to reach the bowl of warm, spicy wine, she heard the main door open and a familiar voice ring through the general mumbling of the guests. 

"Excuse my intrusion, my good man. I merely came to wish a good friend a merry Christmas." 

Lyra snapped around, almost spilling her glögg in the process. She couldn't believe her ears, but her eyes removed all doubts from her mind. 

The woman standing near the door, speaking to a mildly confused Principal, was dressed in a light scarlet robe for the occasion, but no ordinary human could have withstood the biting cold outside dressed so lightly. Especially while flying on a branch of cloud pine. 

"Serafina Pekkala!" she shouted and rushed over to great her friend. The witch from the north smiled so that her entire face lit up in joy. 

"Lyra, my dear child," she said as Lyra threw herself into her arms. "A merry, merry Christmas to you, my beloved friend."

"Can Serafina stay with us?" Lyra asked, turned to the Principal who was still rather confused by the situation. 

"Well… I suppose…" he said and looked at Serafina. He saw only a beautiful and warm-hearted woman, and was suddenly overwhelmed with compassion. "Well, why not. "The more, the merrier" as they say." 

"Oh, thank you, thank your, thank you!" Lyra said and gave him a hug that made him blush. Suddenly more voices were heard from the corridor outside. 

"My lord, I assure you that his highness is greatly welcome among us, however I am not sure that…"

"I can talk for my self, Faa," said a voice that Lyra emidiatly recognised. Her heart skipped a beat. Surely it couldn't be that way, could it? 

Three figures appeared around the corner in the corridor. Two of them were men, the third was a bear with fur as white as snow. He was so large that he almost filled up the entire corridor, and the floor under his paws protested against his two tons of weight. 

"Iorek!" Lyra shouted. "And Lord Faa!" 

"Lyra Silvertongue!" the bear laughed and entered the hall. The mumbles of the guests rose to shocked speech. Lyra didn't care what they said, she threw herself around Iorek's neck and buried her face in his fur. He smelled of snow and wilderness. 

"What the devil is going on here?" the Principal asked, now more confused then ever. 

"Principal, allow me to introduce King Iorek Byrnisson of Svalbard," Lord Fa said. "I am Lord John Faa of the Gyptians. I encountered King Iorek and we found we were out in the same business. I volunteerd to show him the way to your splendid college." 

"I have come because I heard about a celebration," Iorek said, his voice sounding like thunder. "I have come to wish my friend Lyra Silver tongue a merry Christmas." 

"Merry Christmas to you as well," Lyra said. 

The Principal was trying to decide if he should invite Iorek as he did Serafina. On one hand, the bear was a king of his own land and personal friend to Lyra, but on the other he knew that the guests would probably feel uncomfortable spending Christmas with a giant bear. Iorek solved his problem by speaking once more. 

"I see that I have interrupted your feast, and therefore I shall leave this place now that my intent is fulfilled." 

"I shall also go, since we Gyptians have our own celebrations to attend to," Lord Faa said. "Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all of you." 

The two turned to leave, but before they did Iorek turned his massive head one last time. Lyra was sure that he would have smiled if he had not lacked the necessary muscles. "By the way, I passed a wonderous sleigh on the way here, so expect yet another visitor." 

The bear and the Gyptian left, and Lyra found herself wondering what Iorek's cryptic comment meant. When she asked Serafina Pekkala, the witch just smiled secretly. "Wait, child, I am sure we will learn soon." 

Lyra felt considerably better now, after meeting Serafina, Iorek and Lord Faa. But still, she felt as if a big piece of her heart was missing, and she feared she could never truly appreciate Christmas as long as she felt that way. 

"Maybe I'm just not meant to be happy," she whispered and sobbed. 

"There now," Serafina said and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Lyra tried to mask her look of sadness, but she knew that she could not hide her emotions from the witch. She looked down onto her feet. 

"Lyra, look at me." 

She turned her head up and met the emerald gaze of the ancient yet young witch. Serafina smiled sadly. "I understand that you are going through a hard time, but I do not know what I can do to help you. I have power, but nothing that can compete with love." 

"You have done enough," Lyra assured her. "Just by being here. Oh, Serafina, I am so grateful that I still have you and Iorek and the others. It's just…" 

She was interrupted by hard knockings on the door. They had a sound of authority in them, but they were also gentle.   
"Who can that be?" Lyra questioned. Serafina smiled. 

The Principal, who was probably asking himself the very same question, took the knob of the door and turned it, hoping to whatever force that controlled his destiny that it would not be another bear. 

As the doors opened, a large man stepped into the room. He was dressed in a suit and cloak of thick, scarlet cloth, decorated with warm, white fur. His beard was white and filled with snow, and it curled down his large belly. His cheeks were red and his eyes warm and he carried an enormous sack on his back. He turned to the guest and laughed merrily so that his belly jumped up and down beneath the warm coat and broad leather belt. 

"Hohoho!" he said. "Merry Christmas, everybody!" 

"Well, I'll be," the Principal said. "It's Father Christmas!" 

Lyra would usually have thought this to be a rehearsed trick, but she knew that the Principal had never been a good actor and the genuine surprise in his voice made her wonder what was going on. But Father Christmas did not seem to care, and pulled a large scroll from within he cloak. "Well, I might just as well get started with the gifts. Let's see now…"   
Father Christmas started reading names from the scroll, letting each one of the guests approach and receive a present. Meanwhile, discussions regarding the identity of the strange Father Christmas started among the schoolars of Jordan and St. Sophia. 

"Is it old Bentley, you suppose?" 

"Nah, he is much shorter!"

"Bernard, then?"

"His daemon is a porcupine. Where would he hide it? Under his shirt?"

"That beard, it looks so real." 

"There are more gifts in that sack then one would guess, he must be strong as an ox." 

"Yes, and where did he get such a suit?" 

Just as Father Christmas handed Tania her present Serefina Pekkala leaned over to her and whispered to him: "You are late." 

Father Christmas snickered and whispered back: "I know, but I had to make a second round to Novgorod. Last-minute good deed." 

Each and everyone received a gift, and they were all so pleased that they completely forgot their theories about the mysterious Father Christmas. Tania got a new dress, Dame Hannah a wonderful necklace, the Principal a bottle of an extremely rare tokajer, which actually moved him to tears. And so on, and so on. 

"Serefina Pekkala," Father Christmas finally read. "Hmmm, you have been a good girl this year." 

"You can say that again," Lyra said and smiled. 

"I'm not sure…" Father Christmas said, while digging in his near-empty sack. "Oh, wait a minute!" He stopped digging and instead moved his glowed hand to behind Serefina's ear, from where he took a small, glittering thing, which he handed to the witch. Serefina looked at the object and gasped. Lyra could see that it was a small star made out of crystal with a thin silver chain attached to it. 

"By the light!" Serafina said. Lyra had never seen her so surprised or moved before. "I… How…" 

"Let's just say that I have connections," Father Christmas said and blazed her a smile. 

"What is it?" Lyra asked. Serefina turned her head to look at her. Lyra could see that her eyes were moist, but she smiled.

"It... it belonged to my mother," the witch whispered. 

"Well then, that seems to be all," Father Christmas said. 

"Ehmn!" Serefina said and gave him a look that dripped with poison. 

"Oh, I jest!" he said and laughed. He turned towards Lyra and smiled. "How could I possible forget about my favourite child this year, Lyra." 

When he said that, she looked into his eyes and saw nothing but a radiating love and compassion, which made her warm inside.

"You are him, aren't you?" she asked. "The _real_ Father Christmas?"

He put a finger to his mouth and blinked in a conspiratory manner. "Hush, it's a secret!"

"I… I haven't wished anything for myself this Christmas," Lyra explained. 

"Yes, you have," Father Christmas said. "Your heart has been calling out for it for some time now, longing."

Lyra nodded and a sad laugh escaped her. "I don't suppose you have Will in that sack, do you?"

He shook his head. "That does sound a bit unlikely. But there is always something for those with pure and good hearts. Let me see… Ah, here is something!"

He pulled a colourful piece of paper from the bottom of the sack. It was a Christmas card. He conjured up a pair of glasses and read what was written on it.

__

"Merry Christmas, to Lyra," he said. "Well, I suppose this is yours then." He handed Lyra the card. There was an adorable picture of a cat and a marten on it, both wearing silly red hats with white fur.

"My work here is now finished!" Father Christmas said and threw the empty sack over his shoulder. "The Narnians are waiting for me, so I must be off !" He opened up his arms, as if to embrace the entire room. "Merry Christmas, everybody! Merry Christmas and a happy new year!"

He was met with applauds from the guests, for they had never had such a good Father Christmas before, and then he left the room just as sudden as he had appeared.

Lyra had not opened the card yet. She had a feeling in her stomach that she didn't really recognise, some sort of tension.

"Open it!" Pantalaimon said. "It might be from him!"

Finally Lyra's courage rose and she slowly opened the card to have a look inside. She then stared at it as if she didn't believe her eyes.

"Pan," she said, slowly. "Come. _Now._"

With that she ran off, dropping the card on the floor. Pantalaimon followed her and both disappeared out the door.

Serafina Pakkala bent down and picked the card up, wondering what could possibly have caused such behaviour. She read the card, and her eyes became wide with surprise.

In the card was written only one word.

__

"Outside."

***

Lyra rushed out into the snow, looking around. Lanterns and anbaric lights in different colours decorated the schoolyard. But she was alone. There was no one there.

Her heart sank, and just as she was about to turn around she heard something. It was footsteps coming from behind her! She did not turn around, mostly because she was afraid to see someone else but the one person she wanted to see. Pan had also frozen, throwing a nervous look at Lyra.

The footsteps came closer and Lyra felt a hand on her shoulder. A hand with only two whole fingers.

"Lyra."

She spun around and looked into his eyes. He had not changed much. The pain in his eyes had turned into a kind of sadness, but there was no doubt about it. It was Will.

Lyra immediately threw herself around his neck and kissed him hard. She was half-aware that Kirjava and Pantalaimon were running around in the snow like mad, laughing. Will answered the kiss and Lyra felt her knees go weak. When they finally broke the kiss he saw that she was crying.

"Lyra, is something wrong?" he asked, his voice filled with concern.

"No," she said. "I just love you so much. I am so happy right now."

He now took a better look at her. "Aren't you cold? Do you want to go inside?"

She was not wearing anything warmer then her red dress, but she didn't even notice how cold it was. She shook her head. "Not yet. Will, how is this possible?"

"I don't know," he answered. "All I know is that I am here with you now."

"Is… Is this a dream?" she asked, gently touching his face.

"If it is, it is the most wonderful dream I have ever had," he said and kissed her again. "Come now. We'll catch a cold if we stay here."

***

When they got back inside Lyra had to introduce Will to everyone. He seemed to feel a bit troubled by all the attention, but did his best to come off as a pleasant person. He even shook hands with the Principal.

"So, this is the boy we have all heard so much about," the Principal said. "I am overjoyed to see that the two of you have been reunited once more."

"Thank you, sir," Will said truthfully and smiled.

Tania gently elbowed Lyra. "You didn't tell me he was that good looking."

"Hey!"

Finally she managed to virtually drag Will from elderly scholars and giggling girls who wanted a closer look at him. 

"Friendly world, this," he said and put his cup of glögg down on a table.

"Will," Lyra said. "Look up."

He did. "Hey, a mistletoe!" he said. "You know, in my world it's a tradition to…"

"Will?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up and kiss me."

And so he did, which caused applauds from the guests standing near them.

Will looked into Lyra's eyes. "Lyra, I don't know how I can be here with your, but I am glad I am. It may not last, but I want you to know that I have never been happier."

"Same here," she said and kissed him again.

"Come now!" the Principal said. "This is truly a cause for celebration! Man the organ! Let us sing!"

The singing began once again. This time Lyra and Will joined in.

__

Deck the halls with bows of holly

Fa la la la la, fa la la la

'Tis the season to be jolly

Fa la la la la, fa la la la

Fill the mead cup, drain the barrel

Fa la la, la la la, fa la la

Troll the ancient Christmas carol

Fa la la la la, fa la la la

See the flowing bowl before us

Fa la la la la, fa la la la

Strike the harp and join the chorus

Fa la la la la, fa la la la

Follow me in merry measure

Fa la la, la la la, fa la la 

While I sing of beauty's treasure

Fa la la la la, fa la la la

Fast away the old year passes

Fa la la la la, fa la la la

Hail the new, ye lads and lasses

Fa la la la la, fa la la la

Laughing, quaffing, all together

Fa la la, la la la, fa la la

Heedless of the wind and weather!

Fa la la la la, fa la la la!

***

Father Christmas watched the lights emitting from Jordan College from afar, and listened to the singing and the laughs. The joy and love radiating from within the building filled him to the brim.

"I have to say, Nicholaus, I am impressed."

Father Christmas turned his head and smiled. "Why, thank you, Xaphania."

The Angel beside him was just barely visible in the pale moonlight.

"You are more powerful then we thought," she said. "We believed that it was impossible to do what you have just done."

"You still do not understand, do you?" he asked. "I am nothing, my dear. _They…_" he nodded towards the school. "They are the true power. They are what Christmas is truly about. I am merely the channel for their love, and the more love they have for each other the more power I have. And sometimes, once in a while, that love is strong enough to do the impossible."

"I see," Xaphania said. Father Christmas smiled, nodded and disappeared. The angel remained and looked at the lights. For a moment she thought that she could hear the sound of bells, galloping reindeers and a jolly laugh in the wind. Then she spread her wings and ascended to the celestial realm from where she came.

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* "Glögg" is a kind of warm, spiced wine, commonly drunk during Christmas time around here. I don't know if it has an English name.

** Is proncounced [ylla-rann]

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Merry Christmas!


End file.
